Times Have Changed
by FanFicNerdFanatic2014
Summary: Jo has always thought herself a normal girl, but that's until a strange man with a box shows up and saves her from aliens while on Christmas vacation. All too soon, he invites her to come with him and travel amongst time and space. Oh yeah, and did I mention that this is man is the character of her favorite TV show?
1. Prologue: In Which A Promise Is Made

The stars were twinkling as twenty-five-year-old Katie Cooper stood outside her house in a small town on the coast of Vancouver Island. She was gazing fondly at the newborn baby she'd just birthed in her arms.

A sadness filled her every time she remembered that this was not her baby. Though she had carried the girl for nine months and finally birthed her yesterday, this girl was not her true daughter, just as her husband was not the baby's true father.

The baby's true father was standing a few feet away from them. "Thank you for everything," the man was saying now. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket. "This won't be the last time we see each other."

"Of course not. She's your daughter. You'll visit sometime, won't you?" Katie wondered. A grin spread across the man's face.

"Don't you worry about that. Tell you what - fifteen years. Fifteen years I'll come back for a visit, and that's when we'll tell her," he decided. "But I can't make promises, of course. I do get caught up in things."

"As you always do," Katie said with a smile. "Thank you. We'll see you again in fifteen years - hopefully."

"I should be there," the man said.

He gave Katie and Derek, Katie's husband, hugs. "Take good care of her." And those were his final words before he walked off into the night.

"We will," Katie promised.

But of course he didn't hear.

**And there it is! The first 'official' chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoy it. I'd love to hear your guesses as to who this mysterious man is, though I think from the simple theme of this book it's fairly obvious. But still, spoilers! (Did you see what I did there? Hahaha.)**

**Adieu,**

**Jo**


	2. Chapter 1: In Which I Meet the Doctor

I could see snow clearly falling outside, causing me to grin. It was December 24th, and the mall was surprisingly busy. My family was out last-minute shopping, and our hands were surprisingly full. We'd just finished visiting Target, and were now running around inside the Bellis Fair Mall, not too far from where we lived.

Normally we didn't make a trip this far, but it was Christmas. Admittedly, our beach house in Tofino was six hours away, but since we'd come to Vancouver yesterday to do some last minute shopping, we'd decided to come the rest of the way to Bellingham. It had taken some persuasion, but eventually my mom had given in, saying "It's Christmas."

"Oh my God. This dress is so cute!" my cousin Mariah cried, and seized an admittedly cute blue bodycon dress from the rack. "Aww, it's twenty-five dollars. It's a bit much, don't you think?"

My aunt nodded in agreement, but when she wasn't looking I took the dress off the rack and into my bag until I could pay for it. She'd love me for it later. I started to look for some dresses and other things that my cousin Chantelle might like. She was younger than all of us, and still wore girls' sizes.

I spotted a pretty blue A-line dress with a bow tying the back of the neck. Each of us had a bag for our wanted clothes, so I put the dress in the bag along with Mariah's dress. I realized that they'd pretty much be twins if they wore them at the same time.

After Forever 21, we decided to hit Hot Topic. "Oh my God, Jo! These are so perfect for you!" Mariah cried, and held out a pair of TARDIS earrings.

My love for the hit BBC series Doctor Who was no secret. I had been watching for years now, and a pair of TARDIS earrings would be perfect for me.

I ended up purchasing some more Doctor Who merchandise. I got a TARDIS beanie, a TARDIS phone case, a MADMAN WITH A BOX t-shirt that I immediately changed into, a TARDIS scarf, a Dalek alarm clock, and a TARDIS nightlight. I also got a TARDIS hoodie.

"You are such a nerd," Mariah told me.

"I know. Now allons-y, everyone, we have to get home!" I exclaimed cheerfully, and Mariah rolled her eyes.

It was true, though. I was such a fangirl. I had loved Doctor Who ever since I was thirteen, and hadn't stopped watching it. But since I didn't get to go to places like Hot Topic very often, I didn't have much Doctor Who merchandise.

Back at home, I got into present-wrapping, making sure to keep the presents out of sight until I could get them under the tree. Even though it was freezing, my cousins and I decided to go and walk on the beach. I was wearing my MADMAN WITH A BOX t-shirt, my TARDIS hoodie, my beanie, and my scarf. I also had my TARDIS earrings in my ears.

"You're such a nerd!" Chantelle cried, echoing what her sister had said to me earlier that day.

"Yep!" I said with the same cheerfulness as earlier.

Mariah didn't bother rolling her eyes this time.

"Isn't it just awesome?" I asked. "Being able to spend your Christmas Eve on a beach? I mean, it's not a very warm beach, but it's still a beach!"

"Y-"

Mariah's sentence was interrupted by something narrowly missing her. I whipped my head around to try and see what had just about hit my cousin. My answer lay in a group of aliens I recognized as Sontarans.

"Damn," I whispered.

"Hey… aren't those the creepy things from the show? What's that guy's name that's a friend of the Doctor? Drax, I think?" Chantelle guessed.

"Close. It's Strax. You're thinking of Guardians of the Galaxy," I said. "But that's not important. The important question is: who are they, and why are they here? If they're looking for the Doctor, they're totally in the wrong universe."

"This is the only universe, Jo!" Mariah cried. "Forget questions. Let's run!"

"Think I'm with you on that one," my brother Colton said. "Now let's go."

But I couldn't run. This was my one chance to be a hero, to be like the Doctor. I didn't care that I was wearing clothes that simply screamed DOCTOR'S COMPANION. I started to walk towards them.

I cleared my throat, shivering out of cold and nervousness. "Um, excuse me?" I called out. The Sontarans looked at me. "I address whomever is the leader of you under convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

The Sontarans snickered and spoke in a language I didn't recognize. "My name is… Jo, and I speak-" I gulped, "On behalf of this world."

One of the Sontarans spoke up. "You are the leader of this world?" he asked. To my surprise, it was English. Then I realized what must be going on. The TARDIS had to be near. That was the only explanation.

"No. I'm a… diplomat," I said, stating the first thing in my mind. Of course, my only real thought was, OH MY GOD I'M SPEAKING AN ALIEN LANGUAGE!

I heard the familiar engines of the TARDIS whoosh, and soon it materialised near me. Seconds later, I heard the Tenth Doctor's voice say, "Run." This time, I listened. I took off as fast as my legs would carry me. On my way by, I grabbed my cousins' hands, and Mariah grabbed Colton's.

"Oh, so now you run?" Mariah asked as we ran up the slope.

"If the Doctor says run, I run!" I replied. "You have to trust him. He's the Doctor."

"And you're wearing a TARDIS t-shirt!" Mariah cried. "And hoodie. And hat. And scarf. And earrings! You've got to change out of those before you go near him!"

"Who says I'm going near him?" I asked.

"Oh, I know you! You won't be able to stay away!" Mariah exclaimed as we opened the door of the house and ran inside.

"What's going on here?" Mom asked as we entered the kitchen, our eyes wide.

"He's real!" I cried happily, my terror gone. "The mother fudging Doctor is real! And I talked to aliens!"

"You what?" my mom asked. "What happened down there?"

"Well, we were just on the beach, when this blast thing nearly killed Mariah. Of course I couldn't have that, so I went to talk to the aliens who fired the shot," I explained a weird calmness and blabby-ness, just like the Doctor's. "I couldn't understand them at first, and they laughed at me, but suddenly, I could understand! A couple seconds later, the TARDIS appeared. And then, the Doctor came up behind me, and he told me to run. Since he's the Doctor, I listened!"

My mom looked shocked. Then she cleared her throat and grinned. "Well, I'm glad you're okay," she said. "And you did a very brave thing. What did you say?"

"Well, I tried to address them under Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation, and I had this whole great speech prepared. I told them that I was speaking on behalf of this world, and they asked if I was the leader," I said. "I fudged the truth a bit and told them that I was a diplomat. That's about when the Doctor showed up."

My aunt Sarah grinned and hugged me. I headed upstairs and changed out of the TARDIS clothes I wore, even though I was desperate to stay in my MADMAN t-shirt. Instead I put on a pair of white jeans, my Despicable Me minions t-shirt, my purple hoodie from Forever 21, and set my pair of gray sneakers with purple laces neatly by the door.

Just as I was settling down on the couch with a bowl of chips, watching the movie _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_, the door knocked. Since my aunt was the only one still standing up (the rest of my family had settled down to watch the movie), she got the door.

"Hello?" she asked. "Who are you?" I mentally facepalmed. Who else could it be but the Doctor?

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you?" he asked.

"Doctor, you don't recognize me? It's Sarah!" she exclaimed. Whoa. Wasn't expecting that.

"Sarah…" the Doctor thought for a moment. "Oh, yes, Sarah! I remember now! Sorry, it's been a bit. New face, regeneration, new me. You know how it gets." My aunt grinned, and the Doctor hugged her.

Little warning signs were going off in my brain.

He _hugged her._ The mother fudging Doctor _hugged my aunt_! What was this?! I'd never expected this.

"Is it just you here?" the Doctor asked. "Is Brian here too?"

Shasta. He knew my uncle too? "Brian, get over here! It's the Doctor!" my aunt cried excitedly. "Come on, Katie, Derek! Say hi!"

"Doctor!" my mom exclaimed, and leapt up from her seat, leaving the movie on for us kids. My dad eagerly followed.

Mariah glanced at me, her eyes wide. "Do our parents know the Doctor?" she asked.

"I think they do!" I cried. "Wait, should I tell him?"

"About what?"

"The show, doofus!"

"No! Number one rule of sci-fi movies where someone winds up in a universe where they're a TV show character: don't tell."

"There aren't any shows like that!"

"Well, there could be. Anyways, it just doesn't seem right to tell him."

"I guess you're right."

After my parents and my aunt and uncle had finally finished saying hi to their apparent old friend, they invited him inside. _Shasta again_. The Doctor is inside my vacation house! THE FREAKING DOCTOR!

I took a look at him. Definitely Tenth. He was so David Tennant. Everything positively screamed TENTH DOCTOR. "Um, Mom… what's going on?" I finally decided to ask.

"Honey, this is the Doctor!" Mom exclaimed. "He's an old friend of ours."

"So, am I late? Or early?" the Doctor asked.

"Fifteen years!" Mom claimed. "Fifteen years, nearly on the nose. It's been a couple months. November 9th, 2000, that was the last time we saw you. Now it's the evening of December 24th, 2015."

"Christmas Eve!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Always loved Christmas." Then he had a thought. I recognized the Doctor's "I've just had a thought" expression. "Sorry, but I've got someone waiting for me in the TARDIS. I'll just go and grab her, and then I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you!" I offered out of instinct.

"Great!" the Doctor exclaimed, and I slipped on my shoes. "Right, allons-y! Here we go!"

I grinned and dashed out the door after the Doctor. We slowed to a walk as soon as we were outside. "So, what's the story?" the Doctor asked.

"Story? What do you mean, a story?" I asked.

"Everyone's got a story. What's yours?"

"Hmm, nothing too exciting. I was born here on the Island, then I moved to the mainland a few years ago. Don't need to know where. Anyways, we wanted to see our cousins for the holidays, so we came out and rented a beach house!" I exclaimed. "It hasn't really been that exciting. At least, not until today."

"Yes, I imagine today would have been rather exciting," he agreed with a grin. I was getting my classic fangirl shivers inside. "Let me just ask you one question. What in the name of Earth possessed you to go and talk to those Sontarans?"

I shrugged, pretending to think. "I don't know. I guess I just thought talking would be better than fighting," I lied.

"I would agree, although… that tactic doesn't seem to work for me," he said, and for some reason I found it funny that even though he thought I probably had no clue what he was talking about, I knew exactly what he meant. I nearly grinned, but that would probably give me away.

I didn't ask for an explanation, I just followed him inside the TARDIS. "Doctor, did you really just up and leave without telling me?" asked the irritable voice of Rose. "I've been sitting here and waiting!"

"Of course you were! Where else would you be?" the Doctor asked, and I barely concealed a smirk.

Rose rolled her eyes, and then caught sight of me. "Who's that?" she asked.

"She's…" the Doctor's brows furrowed in confusion. "Actually, this may come off as surprising, but I really don't know. I never bothered to ask for a name. What's your name? Now I did!"

I grinned. "I'm Joelle, call me Jo though. Everyone does," I explained.

"Jo…" the Doctor murmured, doing that weird thing where he gets an idea and starts fleshing it out without explaining to anybody else what's going on. "Yes, that's definitely the same name… not very common, either. A-ha!" His face was suddenly filled with joy, something that made me lean back and put a weird expression on my face.

"Doctor, what's going on?" I asked.

"Yep, you're the same person! So, if you don't mind, Jo, I am going to have a little chat with your mother!" the Doctor exclaimed. And, with that, he bolted out the doors of the TARDIS without another word. Sighing exasperatedly, Rose and I ran after him.

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a bit! I've been really busy with some of my other stories that aren't on this account. I hope you guys liked this chapter! Until next time, my friends! **

**Sunshines and smiles, **

**Fanfic**


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